Haitian community leaders in Montreal gathered Friday afternoon, to plead for donations to the relief effort in their homeland in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
In a joint press conference, Haitian-Canadians urged the public to donate to the Red Cross.
Hurricane Matthew swept through the Caribbean nation on Tuesday, killing hundreds of people.
Quebec Red Cross communication direction Myriam Marott, told the news conference that about 350,000 Haitians need assistance, including water purification, temporary shelter, food and blankets.
Julie Lee, from World Vision Haiti, told CTV News Channel that some communities have 80 per cent of homes destroyed and people have crowded into schools and churches without adequate access to food and water.
Marjorie Villefranche, director general of the Maison d’Haiti, a community centre in Montreal, said that flooding is a primary concern.
“The worst-case scenario: we are afraid that if the water level goes too high, a lot of people could drown because they are living by the seashore. That's what we are afraid of," Villefranche said.
Local radio host Marie-Dominique Fortuma said it’s hard to stay positive after she learned her childhood home in Les Cayes has been “washed way, taken away, the farm, everything is gone.”
Fortuma said the country still hasn’t rebuilt after the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 100,000.
“They were trying to get back on their feet and it's not even done and then Matthew came and washed everything away,” she said.
Frantz Benjamin, the city councillor for the St-Michel neighbourhood, told CTV Montreal that the Haitian community is grateful for all the support and solidarity they have already received from Canadians.
“We are a resilient people. We are a resilient community,” Benjamin said. “We know that we have friends all over the world and especially in Canada helping us.”
The Quebec government has contributed to some of that support by announcing on Friday they would donate $100,000 to humanitarian aid for Haiti. The federal government also stated on Friday they would allocate $300,000 to the Red Cross recovery effort in Haiti, part of the up-to $3 million they have set aside.
Montreal has donated $60,000.
According to the 2011 National Household Survey, 119,000 of see Canada’s 137,000 Haitians lived in Quebec.
On the ground
John Hasse, the National Director of World Vision’s Haiti response, has been living in Haiti for two and a half years and experienced Hurricane Matthew firsthand on Tuesday. He told CTVNews.ca in phone call from Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Friday that there were huge amounts of wind and rain and that several trees at his house came down.
“The road outside my house just became a river,” Hasse said. “It really was a bad storm.”
He said World Vision’s teams have reported that 80 to 90 per cent of the crops have been destroyed in the hardest-hit communities in the southern part of Haiti. Hasse said that, on the Island of La Gonave, just west of Haiti, about 40 to 50 per cent of the homes and crops have been ruined there.
“The crops are really important because the south is one of the breadbaskets of the country,” he said.
The flooding caused damage to Haiti’s farmland which means that food prices will go up and there will be a food shortage, according to Hasse. He said his organization is also focused on providing clean drinking water to avoid the spread of diseases, such as cholera. Emergency shelter is another primary concern for Haitians who have lost their homes in the hurricane’s aftermath.
Hasse said that his teams have started distributing clean water and hygiene kits and setting up temporary shelters. He said he is confident that Haitians will recover from this latest disaster.
“One of the things I’m very impressed with the Haitian people is how resilient they are,” Hasse said. “They will get back up on their feet again. It’s just going to take time.”
With files from CTV Montreal
